A famous athlete recently said he couldn’t believe in Christianity because it was “too binary” for him.
I took this to mean he perceived the Christian faith as too confining… since it puts forth only two ways of living–as opposed to having many options.
I don’t agree with the assessment of Christianity being confining.
But I must give credit for recognizing it’s a binary faith.
And would go further to say we live in a binary world!
Just think of all the binaries in the Bible:
-man and woman
-heaven and hell
-light and darkness
-life and death
-good and evil
-truth and lies
-wisdom and folly
The pertinent thing to see about all these binaries is that they are a feature, not a bug.
That is…
We should not view them as problems to defend, but part of God’s design to embrace.
There’s a great temptation to soften the binaries of the world God made to find safety in a mushy middle–where every lifestyle is approved and no one is offended.
But according to Jesus, there’s no real safety in this place at all…
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).
Like it or not, God made us a binary world.
